Welcome to a new installment of the “Friday Faces”, with this week’s choice, Will Smith. He was born on September 25 1968 in West Philadelphia and was raised there as well (which will come as not surprise if you are familiar with the lyrics of the Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme). He went to the Overbrook High School and was named Prince because of his charm. He received good grades, but was very interested in making music. Together with Jeffrey A. Townes he formed the group DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince and was very succesful with hits like “Parents Just Don’t Understand” and “Summertime”. He made a lot of money with his music, but spent so much and underpayed his taxes, which nearly meant bankruptcy.

Luckily NBC was interested in creating a show about a kid from Philadelphia who went to live with his family in Beverly Hills. “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” aired in 1990 and lasted six years. During this period he slowly started expanding his acting to movies as well, impressing with his role in Six Degrees of Separation. His big breakthrough though were his roles in Bad Boys and Independence Day and he has managed to stay in the spotlight, being one of the best paid actors around.

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He has starred in a lot of entertaining movies, but when I have to pick my favorite role I choose his stunning performance in Seven Pounds (reviewed earlier this week). It was a performance which really impressed me and I think it’s his best role.

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I’m a fan of Will Smith. Sorta big fan. I don’t know what it is. Sure some of his films aren’t the best. He has a tendency to do great films like Ali and then poor stuff like Hitch. Despite it all, I think he’s a brilliant actor. Favourite role? Tough one. Ali is one of his strongest roles. I love him as Mike Lowry in Bad Boys. But he’ll always be the Fresh Prince to me. I still know all the lyrics….

ilovethatfilmsays:

I think he didn’t do too badly as he has chosen roles that are fun (and usually in movies that earn a lot). Would have been interested to see what he would do in a Tarantino movie, shame he passed on it.

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I love this post! And I enjoy looking at all faces of Will Smith, so thank you for making my day! Lol…The first movie that had me take Will Smith as a serious actor was his role in Six Degrees of Seperation. I was so impressed with his performance in this film. I also enjoyed Seven Pounds. Most people didn’t get this movie, but I loved it and would also say this is one of his best performances. I love all of his action flicks too. The only movies I didn’t care for are Wild Wild West and Pursuit of Happyness…I know he received great reviews for his role in Happyness, but I honestly wasn’t a fan.

Have not seen him in Six Degrees of Separation, guess I should. I only saw Seven Pounds for the first time two weeks ago and was blown away by it and absolutely love it (given it a 10/10, which I don’t do often). Have not seen WWW and PoH, but want to give both a chance even though I know of the reputation of WWW

Six Degrees of Seperation was like his 1st real stab at acting coming from his tv show The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. If you enjoyed Seven Pounds, I think you will also find favor in Six Degrees of Seperation. When u get the chance to see it, I would be interested to see your thoughts.

I’ve always enjoyed Will Smith as a comic-action hero. I still haven’t seen one of his serious roles, but from what I have seen I think Bad Boys deserves a nod. Also Six Degrees of Seperation is a brilliant performance by him.